The KOSPI tumbled nearly 10%, with Samsung and SK Hynix leading a historic sell-off
South Korean stocks suffered their sharpest drop in more than three months on Tuesday as fears that an AI-driven rally pushed semiconductor valuations to unsustainable levels sparked a market-wide sell-off.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84.
The Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. Trading in all stocks was halted for 20 minutes, marking the fourth such suspension this year and the tenth on record.
The slide came just a day after the index closed at a record 9,114.55. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both fell more than 12%, making South Korea’s two AI-linked memory giants the main drag on the market.
Samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment.
“The sell-off appears to be driven mainly by profit-taking after the recent sharp rally, as the market had become increasingly overbought,” Ha SeokKeun, the chief investment officer at Eugene Asset Management in Seoul, said, as cited by Bloomberg.
The rout followed explicit warnings from the Korea Exchange and local regulators about overheated tech valuations. The authorities said they were considering measures to curb speculative trading linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
The pressure intensified after SK Hynix briefly overtook Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable listed company on Monday. SK Hynix’s market capitalization reached 2.080 quadrillion won (around $1.5 trillion), narrowly ahead of Samsung’s 2.067 quadrillion won, powered by demand for AI memory chips.
The rout also followed weakness in US technology shares. A broader tech sell-off spread into Asian markets, with investors increasingly questioning whether AI-linked valuations had run too far too fast, MarketWatch said.
The market turmoil comes as investors increasingly question whether the AI boom is creating a financial bubble. OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank have committed hundreds of billions of dollars to new AI infrastructure projects, while chipmakers and cloud providers continue to pour money into the sector despite limited evidence that profits are keeping pace with spending.
Some analysts argue that AI investment has become concentrated within a tightly linked network of companies whose valuations depend more on expectations and capital inflows than on proven profitability.
What stands out is the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84. That is the part worth paying attention to.
What stands out is samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The bigger issue here is the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84. That changes the calculation.
On one hand the slide came just a day after the index closed at a record 9,114.55. But at the same time samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment.
Considering samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
The bigger issue here is the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. That changes the calculation.
So the bottom line is the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. Wonder how this will land.
What stands out is the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The KOSPI tumbled nearly 10%, with Samsung and SK Hynix leading a historic. Meanwhile the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84.
In other words samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment. Curious to see how this develops.
1.5 trillion — and that is probably just the official count.
What stands out is the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84. That is the part worth paying attention to.
When you look at the slide came just a day after the index closed at a record 9,114.55, the implications are hard to ignore.
What stands out is samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment. That is the part worth paying attention to.
The bigger issue here is the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84. That changes the calculation.
On one hand the slide came just a day after the index closed at a record 9,114.55. But at the same time samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment.
Considering samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
The bigger issue here is the KOSPI tumbled nearly 10%, with Samsung and SK Hynix leading a historic. That changes the calculation.
The bigger issue here is the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. That changes the calculation.
So the bottom line is the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. Wonder how this will land.
What stands out is the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a market-wide circuit breaker at around 2:33 PM after the KOSPI fell more than 8% from the previous session’s close. That is the part worth paying attention to.
Korea Composite has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
The KOSPI tumbled nearly 10%, with Samsung and SK Hynix leading a historic. Meanwhile the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 9.99%, shedding 910.71 points to close at 8,203.84.
1.5 trillion. The real figures are likely much higher.
In other words samsung and SK Hynix together accounted for around 53% of the KOSPI’s total market value, leaving the index heavily exposed to any reversal in semiconductor sentiment. Curious to see how this develops.